Electrical connector



A112- 19 1953 c. w. BESSERER 2,848,706

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed Nov. 17. 195s l M 2 E O PGRAR PERMANENT \s5' 'sees/A4 34 20 CARL w. @Essent-R United States Patent() ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Carl W. Besserer, Silver Spring, Md., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Application November 17, 1953, Serial No. 392,782

3 Claims. (Cl. 339-222) The present invention relates to an improved electrical connector.

Prior art electrical connectors of a solder or permanent type have the inherent disadvantage of not permitting disconnections to be made quickly and conveniently during testing operations. Conventional mechanical friction type electrical connectors are unreliable for certain applications because of the possibility of faulty contacts caused by vibration, oxidation of the contact elements, or improper installations. The electrical connector of the present invention is designed to eliminate the disadvantages mentioned above for temporary and permanent connections and is adapted to be used with hermetically sealed equipment.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a highly reliable electrical connector providing temporary or permanent interconnections of electrical conductors, as desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide an electrical connector which is inexpensive to manufacture, extremely reliable in operation, and which is suitable for use with hermetically sealed equipment.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electrical connector which will permit a temporary connection to be made to equipment being tested, and a permanent connection to be made to said equipment after the adjustments and testing have been completed.

Other objects and many advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of the invention, showing a plurality of connectors in assembled relation;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation illustrating a temporary and a permanent connection;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a single connector illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4--4 of Fig. l, and shown with the parts establishing a temporary connection; and

Fig. 5 is a partial view of the connector shown in Fig. 4, illustrating in detail the manner of establishing a permanent connection.

Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a male plug assembly including a mounting ring and a plug contact. The mounting ringis hermetically sealed in an aperture in a base, which may be the wall of a gas filled case containing electrical equipment to which electrical contact is to be established. A female plug assembly or receptacle is provided including a spring contact connected to a lug or other suitable terminal. The spring contact is adapted to frictionally engage the contact of the male plug assembly and has connected thereto a conductor or cable which is to be connected to the equipment within the case. A spring contact jumper is permanently attached to the contact of the male plug assembly and is permanently attachable to the conductor or cable.

M' 2,848,706 ce Patented Aug. 19, 1958 Referring now to the drawing, the connectors forming the subject matter of the present invention are desig nated generally by reference numeral 10. The connectors 10 are shown as mounted on a base 12 which may be a wall of an evacuated or gas-filled housing, the details of which are not shown. The housing contains equipment to which alternate temporary and permanent electrical connections are to be made. On the base 12 there have been shown a plurality of connectors 10, arranged in spaced rows, with the female sections or receptacles for each row being assembled as a unit. It should be understood, however, that the individual connectors 10 are of identical construction, each connector comprising a male plug assembly 13 and a female plug assembly 14, and that the connectors can be made in strips, as shown, or as single units.

As best seen in Fig. 4, a typical connector 10 includes the male plug 13 having a dat sided contact 15 which is carried in a metal sleeve 16, as by solder 52. The sleeve 16 is mounted in position in an opening 18 in the base 12 by a flanged sleeve 19 and a bead 20 of insulating material interposed between the anged sleeve 19 and the sleeve 16. The anged sleeve 19 is held in place by solder, as shown at 21.

A jumper 22, formed of phosphor bronze or some other semi-resilient material, is secured tothe upper end of the sleeve and is provided with an aperture 25 through which contact 15 extends. As best seen in Fig. 4, the jumper 22 is generally S-shape in side elevation and includes lower, intermediate and upper sections, 22a, 22b and 22C, respectively. The lower section, 22a, receives the contact 15, as aforesaid, and defines a base for the lower end of the female plugv or receptacle 14, to be described in more detail hereinafter. The intermediate section 22b of the jumper extends vertically along the receptacle 14 in spaced relation thereto, while the upper section 22C projects laterally and away from said receptacle.` The upper section 22e is formed with ears 26 andra contact 28, for reasons to be pointed out hereinafter.

The receptacle or female plug 14 is composed of converging walls, and a top wall of insulating material, a spring contact and a terminal lug. As best seen in Fig. 4, the walls 37 are formed of insulating material and converge at their lower ends defining a cavity 38 and an opening 27 which receives the contact 15. The top wall 43 carries a spring contact 40 comprisingjaws 41 and 41 projecting downward so as to occupy cavity 38 and engage contact 15. Fig. 4 also illustrates the manner in which contact 40 is secured to the top wall 43 by means of shank 42 extending through and beyond the upper surface of top 43. The upper extremity of shank 42 is iirmly fixed, by soldering or other means, to terminal lug 34, the said lug having a solder sleeve 44.

As best seen in Fig. 3, female assembly 14 is completed with the' top wall 43 being rmly compressed upon the side walls 37 by means of a spring clip 45, the spring contact 4l) projecting into cavity 38. Spring clip 45 is generally lJ-shaped with locking detents 48 being provided at either end, said detents engaging depressions 50 in the walls 37. This arrangement permits spring clip 45, by virtue of its being stressed in tension, to form a tight seal between said top and side walls but nevertheless to permit disassembly with ease.

The connector shown is made with a plurality of female contacts 40, to engage an equal number of male contacts 15. 1f desired, however, said connector may be designed to accommodate but one, or perhaps two, of said contacts. A conductor 3S, with insulation 32, has the major portion of its bared end 36 anchored in the sleeve 44. The remaining portion of the bared end 36 is engageable with the `contact 28, 'in `amanner to be described in more detail hereinafter.

In use, when it is desired to establish a temporary electrical connection with apparatus in the housing, it is only necessary to position the female plug 14 with the opening 27 above thecontact 415, yand then to force said female plug downwardly aboutsaid contact until it abuts the upper face of the .lower -section 22a of the jumper V22. In this position contact engages the spring contact 40 and establishes a rm electrical connection between the conductor 35 and-the contact.15.

Permanent connection can :beY made with apparatus in the housing after thefemale plug has been positioned as described hereinabove,by :simply springing the section 22o of the jumper upwardly, as best seen n Fig. 5, until it engages ythe `solder Vsleeve 44 and the contact 28 irnpinges on the baredr end portion 36 of the conductor 3S. Solder 39 is then applied for .anchoring the jumperv to said conductorVand the ears k26 are clamped about the insulation 32. It will thus belseen that a dual,or parallel, connection is effected between the conductor 35 and the contact 15, that is, one path is established through the plug contact 15 and spring contact 40 and another path is established through the plug contact 15 and the jumper 22.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practicedrotherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

l. An electrical connector adapted for use with hermetically sealed apparatus, comprising `a housing enclosing said apparatus :and having Van aperture formed therein, a sleeve carried in said aperture and attached to said housing, a second sleeve mounted in said rst sleeve, an insulator interposed between said first and said second sleeves, a male contact having a portion thereof sealed in said .second sleeve and .having another portion thereof projecting from said structure, a jumper of resilientY material having one end `electrically connected to said contact, a block of insulating material having a recess.v portion, aspring contact carried in said recess in said block,

` said spring contact having jaws forfrictionally engaging contact for releasably engaging said male contact, a conductor, a lug lon said female contact tosecure said conductor to said fem-ale `contact, and a jumper of resilient conductive material permanently secured to said male contact and adapted to be permanently secured to said conductor to form an electrical path in parallel with the electrical path established lty'the' engagement of said male and female contacts and to retain said 'male and female contacts yin engagement.

3. An electrical connector adapted for use with hermetically sealed apparatus, comprising, a sealed housing for containing said apparatus, Ya male contact outside of said housing and electrically insulated therefrom, a female contact 4forreleasa'bly engaging said male contact, a conductor, a lug on -said female contact for securing said conductor to said female contact, anda jumper of resilient conductive material permanently :secured to said .male contact 'and including vears adapted for permanently engaging said conductor to form an electrical pathin parallel with the electrical path established bythe engagement of said male Vand female contacts.l

lordanetal. Ian. 3, 1956 

